Mold forming and casting apparatus.



D. BAKER.

MOLD PORMING AND CASTING APPARATUS.' APPLICATION FILED AUG. 16, 1910./

Patented Jan. 7, 1913.'

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APPLICATION FILED AUG.

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' UNITED STATES PATENT oEIueE.`

DAVID BAKER,v or PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AssIGNoP; or ONE-THIRD Tov JOHN J'. SHANNON, OF- BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA, AND ONE-THIRD TO LADD & BAKER, INCORPORATED, A CORPORATION 0F PENNSYLVANIA.

Y MOLD FORMING AND CASTING APPARATUS. i

speciacationefrettersPatent.

Application filed August 16, 1910. Serial No. 577,512.

To all whom t may concern.:

Be it known that I, DAVID BAKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and'useful Improvements in Mold Forming and Casting, Apparatus, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying draw- Ing.

In the casting of pig iron, where the molten metal as its l'lowsfrom the furnace, is poured directlyinto the molds, the cast productie usuallyvery irregular in chemical composition, such. irregularity being due to the absence of opportunity for the metal to lmix to any extent Ain the heart-h of. the furnace before it is drawn otl".

It is one of the. aims`of. my invention to avoid this objection and secure a pig iron of uniform composition in the cast, and at the same' time provide for the 'casting of the pigs in a continuous and expeditious manner, and so that they Will `possess a natural fracture, such as is characteristic of sand castings. With these ends in view, I propose/to handle` an entire cast from the furnace, so far asy possible in one ladle or receptacle, or in as large units as-feasible in order to secure a thorough and complete mixing of the metal before it is poured into the molds; and I propose, further, in accordance `with my invention, to employ for the casting of the metal, an apparatus of improved form and construction embodying, in combination, a series of mold receptacles, means for supplying mold. materialpreferably sand-thereto, means for torming mold cavities in the material, and means for supplying casting material to the mold cavities, these several means cooperating with each other in such manner that the castings will he produced successively and continuously.

ln its more specific embodiment, the apparatus ot the present invention comprises a series ot traveling mold receptacles; a holder or hopper to contain the mold n-aterial-in the. prescrit instance, smith-which hopper arranged to discharge into the moid receptacles traveling beneath the same; a, mold cavity Forming device-in thc presont instance. wheel formed withprojections corresponding to the torni of the mold cavity and the castings to be produced- Wh1ch wheel is arranged to coperate with the sand-filled mold receptacles as the same Patented Jan. 7,1913.

travel past the Wheel and to form the mold.

cavities therein; anda reservoir or receptacle to contain the casting material-in the presentinstance-molten metal-which re-v ceptacle is arranged above the vtraveling molds and disposed to discharge the metal successively into the mold cavities. Means are provided for separating the #castings from the sand, such means being preferably 1n` the form of 'a screen onto Which the travcling mold receptacles discharge the sand and castings, the sand falling through the screen and the castings sliding olf the screen.-

rl`jhe separatedsand is, 'by suitable means.-

for instance, a conveying mechanism-conducted back to the hopper to be used again.

In the accompanying drawingszfFigure 1 is a top plan view of my improved apparatus. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is an end elevation as'viewed in'the direction of the arrowin Figs. 1 and 2. Fig.

4 is'an elevation on an enlarged scale, partly in section, of thereceiving end of the series of mold receptacles, the supply hopper for the molding material, Aand the mold cavity forming device. Fig. 5 is'a transverse sectional elevation through the same on the line a-a of F ig. 4 as viewed in the direction of the arrow in said figure.

Referring to the drawings: my improved apparatus comprises as its main features, an endless chain of connected mld receptacles 1; a hopper or holder 2,- in which the mold material is placed, and arranged to discharge successively into the receptacles traveling beneath the same; a mold -cavity forming device 3 arranged above the chain of mold receptacles in position4 to coperate with the sand-filled receptacles after theyleavc the hopper to form mold cavities therein; a reservoir or holder 4 forthe molten metal arranged above the 'chain of mold receptacles and adapted to supplymolten metal to the .mold cavities formed by the mold forming device; a screen 5 arranged at. the end ol the chain of molti receptacles, onto which the receptacles successively dump their contents, and by which the sand is separated Jfrom the castings; and a convey-v ing mechanism G leading from-the discharge lend of the chain of receptacles back to the 4mold. reeeptaeles` adjacent the Avt 0 hopper and acting to conduct the separated a great proportion otthe ast ot' a furnace sand back and discharge the same into the hopper.

The endless chain 1 `of mold receptacles consists 'of a series of trays or pans l. joint ed together at their edges and vflexibly connected hy'links lb, at the Iiunct-ion ot which are arranged rollers l adapted to engage between the teeth of two pairs of carrying Wheels 7 and 8, over which the chain ot receptacles passes at opposite ends. rying wheels 7, at the receiving end, are earried ,by a shaft 7 mounted in' suitable hearings 7" sustained by standards 7. The carrying wheels 8, at the opposite end, are siinilarlwr carried b v a `shatt 8.niounted in bearings 8* in {ixed standards 8, thevend of which shat'tI is provided with a driving `fear 8d engaged b V a pinion 8 on a seeond shaft 8f, which latter may be driven from Vany suitablesmirce of power so as to rotate,

the carryingr reeeptaeles to travel at the upper the direction of the arrow in Fig. f2. their travel, the reeeptaeles on the upper chain are 4sustained on fixed rails 10 ex tending: hmgilndinallv between the pairs ot' earl-,Vingtr wlnelssod'hat the. reeeptaeles will be properly lguided and supported in receivinp; the .sand and `molten metal. At the underside o't the chain. the reeeptaeles' iu their travel are supported hy longitudinal rails ll, whiehaet to prereut the `same troni sagging.

'l`he hopper the present instaure ported in fixed position wheel S and cause the chain ot side in Ltor the mold material. in

sand. is fguitahly supahovelhey ehain ot el-rying wheels 7, and has its lower end eontraeted to form' a diseharge pout Q through whieh the sand will be supplied to the mold reeeptaeles as the latter .travel past. the, ,s pout, whieh latter ma).Y 4be provided with a suitable gate 2* -t-o eontrol the [low ot' the. sand.

The mold rarity ifm-miner wheel is'earried hv'a sha't't fl mounted to rotate 'freelv in hearings il" ranatained by standard 3i extending upwardly at opposite side@ ot the chain :nlpieeut the diei-harige spout Qi* ot` the sand hopper. This wheel is so disposed that its mold toi-miner projeetions Q will enter the sand-t1lledmold rereptarles as the)y pass in ,sueeession beneath .he wheel. the travel ot the rca'feptaeles aetinerv torotate the wheel and eausiner the projeetions thereon to displaee the sand and torni mold eavities in the rtweptaeles. eorrespomling to the toi-m of the projeetions on the wheel and the ll'orm ot Vthe' eastiugs to he produced..

'Vlie reservoir or holder 4 For supplying: inolt'en nxt-al to the mold earities` n\a \I he, of an .suitable l'orui. and arranged iu any suitable manner to supplv the metal to the mold eafilies. l' pret'er 'to employ 'tor `this purp sea ladle ot large `capacity so that may he handled atone time, this insuring a thorough mixture ot the metal and a uni torni .condition in the east produet.` This ladle is adapted to he supported on a track or way t exteinlinf,Y over the chain of reeeptarles. a nd is mounted as shown on a earrying ear so that it may he tipped to pour its contents. 'lhe metal from the ladle is reeeived in a louglitlulinally Aextending trough 't eonneeted at' its inner end to the track etrueture, or other 'suitable fixed support, and supported at its opposite endby means ot' a prop 4*. so that its discharge end will terminate elose above the molds travel` ing beneath. therelrv insuring the passage of the metal trom the. trough tovthe molds without wast e as tht` mold.`` sion past the trough.

. From the efiii :ti'ia'ti n deerrihed. it will he -seen that as the mold reeeptaeles travel troni the reeeivine; to the diseharsring end o't-the ehain. thev will he lirst filled with sand t'roni the hopper. 'lhe sand-tilled reeeptaeles will then ha Ve mold cavities formed therein bv the toi-ming wheel, and finally the eai'ities will be supplied with molten metal t'roln the ladle. ln order that atter the eastsA have `been thus formed they ma) he diseharged tronrthe molds. and the .sand separated tor further use. the screen 5, het'ore alluded to.. is emploved. This screen is arranged in an inclined position at the disehargre end ot the chain ot mold reeep taeles. so that as the ehain passes over the earrvinglr wheels R at that end, the reeep-` taeles in tippingwill disehara'e the eastings and sand onto the sri-een. and the eastingzs will 4slide down tla` .La-reen'. while the sand will tallthrough the ,sameand ma)T be reerived in a`n \l suitable manner. as for i'n- .stauee in a pit til beneath the sereen. ln order to return the separated sand tothe hopper l'or use airain. the eonvelvin'tfniefh anism betere alluded to. i employed. 'l`hii` merhanran maiy yhe ot' 'torn'. or eenstruetion adapted 't'or the purprwe in view. l veraelv aetin.;r endle -l tligfhty l-l leadingrfroin the pit to a longitudinally extending belt eeuvever IT. This eon\.'e \'er l5 diseharges at its oppositeend into the lower portion of a. '.'ertieallv arranged' ehain o'l huekets 1G, whieh at its upper end delivers into a spout t7 leadingr to the hopper 2, liv this means, the .separated .sand isL returned to the hopper for use again iu the l'ormation ot' the molds. lt. will he understood' ot eourse. that suitahle means may be employed tor eoolinfr tlie eastinn'a: and also t'or eooliug' the and and giving the same `the proper moisture tor use in the moldingr proeess.

, l have in the aeeonnmurine dra wings i illustrated nl v invention iudhe 't'orm whieh il prefer to adopt., hut. it. will he, understood any lsuitable l nreter to employ a transn i ....what I claim is provided the operation will be substantially as indicated as above; and it will be understood that my invention is not to be limited to any particular form or construction of the partsexcept in so far as such limitationsare specified 1n the claims.

It will he further understood that while I have referred to my apparatus as being useful par-Y ticularly in the casting of pig-iron, it may be used to advantage for casting other materials and for forming casts ofother forms.

Having thus described my invention,

1. In an apparatus of thev character described, the combination of a traveling endless chain of jointed mold pans, a track or way on which said pans are supported at one point in their travel, a mold-material supplying hopper provided with a spoilt arranged over the supported pans to discharge therein in succession as the pans travel past the spout, and a mold-cavity forming device arranged over the supported pans and acting to automatically form cavities in the filled pans in succession as they pass thereunder.

posite ends and around which the chain travel from its receiving toward its discharging end, means for forming castings in the pans on thev upper side of the chain, and. a downwardly inclined separating 4o screen arranged at the discharge end of the chain with its receivin end in position'to receive the cast-ings an mold material discharged at the down-going end of the chain.

3. In an apparatus of the type described,

the combination of a traveling chain of mold pans, ahpper for the mold material adapted to discharge into said puns, means for forming mold cavities in the filled pans,

means for supplying casting material to the cavities, a screening device at t-he discharge end of the chain in position to receive the castings and mold material discharged from the mold pans, a transverse conveyer beneath the screen to receive the mold mate rial from the screen and a longitudinally extending conveyer in position to receive the mold material from the first conveyer and operating to deliver the same to the hopper.

4. In an apparat-us of the type described, the combination of a chain of traveling mold pans, a hopper for themold material adapted to discharge into the mold pans,

`means for forming mold cavities in the filled pans, means for supplying casting material to the cavities, means at the discharge end of the hain for separating the castings from the mold material, a transversely acting coiiveyer to receive the mold material, a longitudinally arranged conveyer to receive the material from the first conveyer and carry it toward t-he receiving end of the chain of mold pans, an elevating conveyer into which the longitudinally acting conveyer discharges, said elevating conveyer arranged to carry the mold material upwardly, and a spout leading lfrom said elevating conveyer into the hopper.

5. In an apparatus of the character described. the combination of a. freely rotatable wheel provided with mold cavity forniing projections,` a series of mold receptacles movable past said wheel, and means for supplying mold material to said receptacles before they reach the wheel; whereby in the travel ot the receptacles past. the wheel, the latter will he rotated and the forming projections thereon will be caused to successively enter the receptacles and form molding cavities in the mold material.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature'in presence of two witnesses.

DAVID BAKER.

Witnesses WALTER S. MYERS, HELEN I. KAUFFMAN. 

